Flexible supporting arrangement



Oct. 21, 1941. E. H. HULL 2,250,029

' FLEXIBLE SUPPORTING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 16, 1939 Inventor: Edwih H.'Hull,

JV 42W :i i s Attornev Patented Oct. 21, 1941 d 7 2,260,029 FLEXIBLE SUPPORTING ARRANGEMENT Edwin H. Hull, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 16, 1939, Serial No. 309,647

Claims.

The present invention relates to flexible supporting arrangements for supporting a machine, apparatus or the like on a foundation and to prevent or reduce the transmission of vibration of the machine, that is, the supported body, through the support to the foundation or the supporting body and, vice versa, to prevent the transmission of vibration of the supporting body to the supported body. More specifically the invention relates to the type of supporting arrangements which includes compressed cushions of rubber or like flexible material between the supporting body and the supported body. I Difiiculties are experienced in providing arrangements including compressed cushions of rubber or the like for supporting bodies of relatively light weight whenever it becomes necessary to prevent the transmission of vibration of low frequency through such cushions under compression. For example, if it is desired to reduce the transmission of vibration offrequencies of the order of cycles per second or less by means of compressed rubber cushions, the horizontal cross section through such cushions becomes small relative to the height of the cushions. The cushions then assume the shape of columns, but columns of rubber or the like supporting a body do not constitute a stable support. They are unstable in horizontal direction.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of supports by means of compressed cushions of rubber or like flexible material which are stable and prevent or reduce the transmission of low frequency vibration between the supported body and the f supporting body. This is accomplished in accordance with my invention by the provision of supporting devices each including a lever with a plurality of pivots of which at least one pivot is formed by a compressed cushion of rubber or like flexible material loaded by a force corresponding to a multiple of the mass of the body to be supported. In a preferred embodiment such lever has end portions pivotally engaging the supporting member and the supported member respectively and an intermediate point pivotally engaging one of the members. At least the pivotal engagement between the intermediate point of the lever and one of the members is formed by a compressed cushion. Preferably, pivotal connections or engagements between the lever and said members are formed by compressed cushions of rubber or the like.

. For a better understanding of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention, is di however, all

rected to the following description and the claims appended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing Fig. 1 illustrates a supporting device embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a modification of my invention; Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of another modification of a sup-' porting device in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a supporting arrangement by means of devices as shown in Fig. 3.

As best shown in Fig. 4, a body III is supported on a foundation l I in accordance with my invention by means of a plurality of supporting devices l2. In the present instance I have shown four such devices, each engaging a corner of the square-shaped body It]. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show several modifications of such supporting devices. In each of these figures, a body 10 is supported on a foundation I I.

- The arrangement of Fig. 1 comprises a lever l3 fwhichis greater than the force corresponding to the mass of, the body to be supported. To make this clearer," l'etus assume that the body l0 of Fig. 4 has a mass 4m. As the arrangement includes four devices-uniformly supporting thefour corners, each of said devices has to support a mass m. If the body I!) were supported in the conventional way by means of four cushions, one

under each'corner of the body, then a force m would "be transmitted through each' of these cushions. From another viewpoint, each cushion would be subject to compression by a force m.

. The natural frequency of vibration in vertical direction'through such supporting cushions is a function of the deflection'to which such cushions are subjected. More specifically; this frequency of -vibration is inversely proportional to the square root of the deflection. Hence, the greater the deflection, the smaller the frequency of vibration." As stated above, the deflection of such cushions under compression may be increased either by reducing their horizontal cross section or increasing their height. This measure, however, renders the cushion l0 unstable in horizontal direction. According to my invention the deflection of the cushions is increased by increasing the force thereon.

In the arrangement of Fig. 1, the force acting on the pivot I 4 is equal to m, that is, equal to the mass to be supported, disregarding the weight of the lever I3. If we designate the force acting on the cushion I? with IL, the force acting on the right-hand endof the lever with y, and. the distances between pivot I! and: pivots I4 and I with a and b respectively, then we have the following two equations for the system in equi.-

librium.

1. :ra=y(a-|-.b)" 2. a:y=m

From this follows:

x a-Zb least one pivotal support on the foundation and one on the .body H3. The cushion H in the present' instance forms a pivotal support'between an intermediate point of. the lever and the body.

In the arrangement of Fig. 2 the bodylfl is supported on the foundation II by a device in- K eluding a lever 58 corresponding to the lever it of Fig. 1 and three pivots l9, ZD'and' 2| corre- Sponding to the pivots l4, l5 and II respectively of .Fig. 1. the form of cushions under compression, that is, the arrangement of Fig. 21s the same as that of Fig. 1 except that compressed cushions of rubber or like flexible material are substituted for'the rigidpivots I 3 and I5 of Fig. 1.

The arrangement of Fig. 3 which is one of; the four devices used in Fig. 4 comprises a. lever 22 which has an intermediate point or'portion supported on a cushion 23f resting on a foundation or base plate 24'. The lever 22 is u-shaped in cross-section, similar. to those. of Figs. 1 and 2. The body Ill indicated in dash-dotted lines engages a pivot. or cushion 2'5 on. the" righthand end portion of the lever 22". The left-hand'end portion of the lever 22'is pivoted to the foundation by means including an inverted U strap 26 having legs welded to the base plate 24 and means including acompressed cushion 21 of 'rubber or the like between the U strap and the lefthand end of the lever 22. Engagement between the cushion 21 and the U strap 26 is. effected by a; plate 23 engaging the upper surface of the cushion 21 and guided on the strap 26 and'wood shims 29 between the plate 28- and the base of the U strap. The provision of wood shims 29 permits ready adjustment of the lever 22 by replacing the shims 29 with others of different thickness. Removal of the shims. 29-is facilitated by the provision of a jack bolt 30. Thus, if it is desired to put in; thicker shims 2-9: in order to force downward the left-hand end of the lever 22,v all that, is necessary is to tighten the jack bolt 30, replace the shims 29-iby thicker ones, and

subsequently loosen the jack bolt 3?]; In the. ar.-

rangement. of. Fig. 3 the force acting. on the cushs ion 23 is proportional to the mass of the body In to be supported by the device times the ratio ingjit-can be readily seen that the increased deflection of the cushion 23 is further increased The pivots I9; 20 and 21' are all in Thus, the. provision of the lever 22.. has a twofoldtunction; first, it increases the. forceand consequently the deflection on the cushion 23 in proportionito the above lever ratio and second, it multiplies this increased deflection again in proportion to the lever ratio. Similar. consider.- ations. apply with regard to. the arrangements shown. and. described in connectionwith Figs. 1

and 2.

A comparison. between the arrangements. of Figs. 3' and 2 shows that Whereas in Fig. 2. the cushion 21' forms av pivot between the body I0 and the lever ill, the corresponding cushion 23 of. Fig. 3 forms a pivot between the lever 22 and the foundationor base plate 24'. Also,- thecushion 19. of Fig. 2 corresponds.to.the-cushion.25'of Fig- 3 and. the cushion 2'! of Fig. 3. which. is strapped to the base plate corresponds. to the cushion 20 of. Fig. 2, the cushion 20. being strapped to. the b.0dy.. From another viewpoint, the arrangements of Figs. 2 and 3' are basically the. same, the only difference between them being that the supported body ID and the supporting body or foundation H. have changed their functions as regards the transmission of forces through. the several pivots or. cushions in the two figures. In each case we have a supporting member. H- and a. supported member lllpivotally connected together or engaging each other by a. device including a lever and at least one. pivot in the. form of a cushion under compression between suchlever and. one of the. members. This cushion. under compression is subject to a force greater. than the. mass to be supported bythe device. Thus, a. body or a portion. thereof is supported? inaccordance with my. invention by means comprising acushion and. a lever. mechanism engaging. the cushion and the body and subjecting the cushion .todeflections greater than would beobtained with the cushion. alone as a support.

Where abod'y issupported by a plurality of devices embodyingmy invention, as is the case in the arrangementofFig. 4, it is generally desirable of the-squareeshapedibody and that the'direction of the leverof each-device forms anangle alpha with; the diagonal through. the supported corner. More generally speaking, thelrelationv ofeaoh de vice and a line through the supporting point and the center of gravity of the body is the same for all devices thereby assuring uniform horizontal stiffness of the support in all directions.

Having described the method of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. Flexible supporting arrangement comprising a supported member, a supporting member, and horizontally and vertically flexible means supporting the supported member on the supporting member, said means comprising a lever, v

foundation comprising a lever, cushions of rubher-like flexible material subject to compression for supporting end portions of the lever on the body and on the foundation respectively, and another cushion of rubber-like material subject to compression between the body and an intermediate point of the lever, each path between the body and the foundation including at least one of said cushions.

3. A supporting device comprising a base plate, a lever, a cushion of rubber-like material subject to compression between an intermediate point of the lever and the base plate, means including an inverted U strap with legs secured to the base plate and a flexible cushion for transmitting forces from one end of the lever to the base plate, and a flexible cushion on the other end of the lever for compression by a body to be supported.

4. Supporting arrangement comprising a body, a foundation, and a plurality of device supporting separate points of the body on the'foundation, each device including a lever and cushions of rubber-like material under compression engaging spaced portions of the lever, one of said cushions being subject to a compression force greater than that exerted by the corresponding mass supported by the individual device whereby such force increases the deflection of the cushion and thereby reduces the transmission of low frequency vibration through the cushion, each path between the body and the foundation through the devices including one of said cushions.

5. Arrangement for supporting a body member on a foundation member and to reduce transmission of low frequency vibration between such members comprising a plurality of devices each having a lever and compressed cushions of rubber-like material for pivotally supporting the ends of the lever on such body member and on such foundation member respectively, and another compressed cushion of rubber-like material forming a pivot between an intermediate point of the lever and one of said members, the angles defined between each lever and a line through the end of such lever and the center of gravity of such body being equal for all devices to assure uniform horizontal stiffness of the support in all directions, each path between the body and the foundation through the devices including one of said cushions.

EDWIN H. HULL. 

